Erin Tuttle has been the newspaper adviser for the past nine years and will be leaving after this year. Before saying goodbye, here is a small trip down memory lane to highlight some of the time Tuttle has spent as the HR Chronicle newspaper adviser. 

As Tuttle started teaching newspaper, she realized it was a little challenging to get the hang of. “I had no idea how many different components it entailed,” said Tuttle. 

With beginning anything new, the first year was very much trial and error. One reason being that the journalism and newspaper classes occurred at the same time because of how few kids there were. “There were five newspaper students and one section of journalism, and I think there were nine students in journalism,” said Tuttle. 

Since the five newspaper students were returning members, Tuttle was able to watch, observe and learn from them as they had more experience than she did at the beginning and she spent more time with the journalism students. As the years progressed, it became easier to run the newspaper and more students joined, causing the newspaper and journalism classes to become separated. 

As Tuttle gained more experience and knowledge on running the newspaper, the staff began winning awards. A few years after she became the adviser, they won the All Colorado Award from the Colorado Student Media Association. 

After winning this award, the staff would receive it at J Day, a Colorado Student Media Association conference. Ever since then, attending J Day has been a lasting tradition of the newspaper staff. 

“Once we won that year, we kept going to J Day, and I think all around those were my favorite days because they’re always celebrating students and journalism,” said Tuttle. 

Since becoming the Chronicle adviser, Tuttle has dedicated her time and efforts toward the newspaper to help make it what it is today. “I see it as a child, like something I developed, grew, nurtured, and loved,” said Tuttle. “I’ll miss the whole entire program.”

Tuttle has not only left an impact on the functioning of the paper, but she has impacted the newspaper staff and has taught them many things. Jaysen Anderson, junior, said, “Mrs. Tuttle taught me how to become a much better writer, and how to become a leader through many assignments and projects she’s given.” 

The memories shared with the staff will be unforgettable as well. Anderson said, “Some of my favorite memories with Mrs. Tuttle have got to be from all of the stories she has told throughout my years of being in her class. There are so many entertaining and good stories that I’ll never forget.”

“I see it as a child, like something I developed, grew, nurtured, and loved. I’ll miss the whole entire program.”

Erin Tuttle

Alexandra Malach Odice, teacher and yearbook adviser, will be stepping into Tuttle’s role for the years to come and is looking forward to this new experience. “I’m excited. I want kids to know I’m really pumped,” said Odice. 

She has some goals in mind for when she becomes the newspaper adviser. Her first goal was similar to how Tuttle approached her first year. Odice said, “My first goal is to learn from the students who already know better and more than I do.” Another one of her goals is understanding what some of the goals are for the staff so that everyone is on the same page and she is able to support those goals. 

After departing from HR, there are many different possibilities for what Tuttle plans to do. One of them entails trying a job in project management in business which could closely be related to some of the things she has done as a newspaper adviser.

Although it may be sad for newspaper staff members to see Tuttle leave her position as the adviser, she encourages the staff and incoming members to embrace the change. She said, “It’s never been the same. There are always new people coming into the class, there are always people leaving class, but that’s part of the joy of newspaper is that it is always changing and it’s through that change that we have grown and become better.”

Kara Lyons, Editor in Chief